Automatic firearm



M. G. FARQUH AR AM] A. H. HELL. AUTOMATIC FIREARM, A-PPLICATICN FILED NOV. 5, I917.

Patented Sept. 21, I920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

fnvenitorby M. G. FARQUHAR AND A. H. HILL.

AUTOMATIC FIREARM APPLICATION men N0v.5. I917;

Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

bi/o 0' o orr MOUBRAY GORE FARQUEAR AND ARTHUR HENRY HILL, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND..

r'rN'r I orries.

AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

Application filed November 5, 1917.

T 0 all whom it may concern: I Be it known that we, MOUBRAY Gonn FARQUHAR and ARTHUR HENRY HILL, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing, respectively, at N0. M5 Galthorpe road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and No. 16 Loveday street, Birmingham, aforesaid, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Firearms, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in or relating to automatic fire arms working on the principle of our patented fire arms described,

represented and claimed in the specification of our prior Patents No. 920801, May 4, 1909, and No. 1,019,620, March 5, 1912, our improvements having for their principal objects to provide for the more convenient holding of the fire arm when the same is to be fired from the shoulder and for the ready conversion of the same into a fire arm to be fired from a tripod or other mounting when desired, and to provide for the ventilation and cooling of the space in which the automatic mechanism is situated and works, to facilitate the attachment of the sight to and its detachment from the fire arm and to more conveniently arrange other operating parts of the fire arm.

In constructing the improved automatic fire arm constituting our present invention we make a gap or space for the accommodation of the magazine under that part of the body on which the bolt cover is situated when the said cover is in the forward or breech closing position the axis of the magazine when in position being in the same plane as the axis of the barrel of the fire arm and the notches in the flanges of the end disks of the magazine coinciding with the longitudinal slot or cartridge way in the body or shoe over which the sliding bolt works. The gap or space for the accommodation of the magazine has at one end a channel or groove to receive a rib on one of the end disks of the magazine, the opposite end of the magazine having a recess crossing it diametrically with which engages a part of the body which projects into the gap or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

Serial No. 200,327. 7

catches of the magazineto engage with.

The part of the firearm in which the au-' tomatic mechanism is accommodated is inclosed by a tubular case or sheath havinga series of air admission holes or apertures in opposite sides and the sides of the case or sheath may be provided with slides having corresponding holes therein so as to, permit on the movement of the slides the opening and closing of the ventilation holes or apertures in the case or sheath. The said holes are closed so as to exclude dirt and dust when the fire arm is not in use. The tubular sheath or case, if of metal, may be covered with asbestos or the like to permit the fire arm to be conveniently held at the said part. Or the fire arm may be provided with a depending handle of wood or other non-conductor for heat under the said part, the said handle being screwed on to a screw stud projecting from an encircling strap on the sheath or case. The screw stud is connected by a strong stay to a lug on the underside of the body of the gun.

V7 hen it is desired to convert the fire arm described into a gun to be fired from a mounting the handle may be detached from the screw stud and a fitting substituted therefor which can be conveniently applied to the head of a tripod or other mounting. Or both the handle and stay hereinbefore referred to may be detached so as to permit the lug on the underside of the body to be applied to the head of the tripod or other mounting. v V

.The bolt cover has at its rear end and on the side a hook shaped projection with which engages a spring catch projecting above the l vel of the guides in the shoe with which the bolt cover is engaged, the spring catch engaging with the hook shaped projection of the cover when the latter is drawn fully back. The spring catch is operated, that is to say, taken out of the path of the hook shaped projection on the bolt cover by the pulling of the trigger for firing the gun, or by the direct action of the hand on the spring catch.

The improved fire arm also has on the side the safety device for locking the bolt cover in the forward position.

In order to facilitate the attachment and detachment of the sight we joint the sight to knuckles projecting from the upper edge of the body cap by which the rear end of the tubular body in which the sliding bolt works is closed, the inner face of the body cap having in it an annular channel or groove to accommodate the rear end of the tubular body. The said body cap has on the inner or front face an aXial projection with side projecting lugs the projection and lugs taking into the rear end of the tubular body when the body cap is applied thereto in a position crossin that which it is to normally occupy. y the partial rotation of the body cap the lugs described are engaged with notches in the interior of the rear end of the tubular body and the body cap on reaching the normal position is secured in place by a spring catch with operating thumb lever at the side of the body cap.

W e will further describe our invention in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 represents in side elevation an automatic fire arm containing our improvements, the magazine being removed and a portion of the stock broken away. 7

Fig. 2 represents, drawn to a larger scale, a plan of underside of a part of the said fire arm and Fig. 3 represents the same partly in plan of underside and partly. in horizontal section.

Fig. d is a vertical section of a portion of the automatic fire arm.

Fig. 5 represents partly in side elevation and partly in' vertical section the rear part of the improved automatic fire arm with the cartridge magazine in position, no car tridges however being represented in the magazine.

Fig. 6 is an end view of the detached tubular sheath which incloses the greater part of the barrel and counter recoil spring;

Fig. 7 is side elevation of the detached tubular sheath;

Fig. 8 is a cross section of the sheath on the dotted line shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of the lever adapted to releasably hold the bolt cover in fully turned back position.

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of the detached body cap adapted to support a sight;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation; and

Fi 12 is a planview of the body cap.

Figs. 13 and 14: are transverse sections taken on the line 01-o3, Fig. l and respectively looking in the direction of the arrows A and B.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view taken through the groove of the cover.

Figs. 16 and 1'? are, respectively, detail views of the bolt cover and bolt.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

a is the body or shoe of the gun on which the sliding bolt cover 7) works. Under that part of the body or shoe a over which the bolt cover 6 is situated when in its forward or breech closing position is a gap or recess 0 best seen in Fig. l for the reception of the cartridge magazine cl, the said cartridge magazine (Z being shown in position in the gap or recess 0 in Fig. 5.

To detach the magazine (Z from the fire arm it is only necessary to grip the spring catches (Z (Z so as to disengage the same from the parts a, h respectively when the magazine (Z may be withdrawn. On applying the magazine to the gun the spring catches (Z (Z yield automatically until the catches prope pass and snap into engagement with the said fixed parts a 72..

i is the tubular sheath (shown detached in end view side elevation and cross section in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 respectively) which incloses the greater part of the barrel and tubes in which the springs of the automatic mechanism are accommodated as is best seen in Fig. 3. in each side of thesheath i are holes or apertures which are opened or closed to the external atmosphere by slides 2' al having in them similar holes or apertures which can be made to coincide with the holes in the sheath i, the said slides 71 being moved into the position for permitting a free passage of air into and through the sheath 2' when the fire arm is in actual use and being moved into the position for closing the holes or apertures in the said sheath 2' so as to exclude dust and dirt when the fire arm is not in use.

At or near the middle of the sheath i is a metal strap or encircling band having in one therewith a stay or bar 70 connected to the lump a on the underside of the body a by the cross pin (1. The stay bar 70 has in it a series of screwed holes 70 for the reception of the screwed stem of a handle Z or for the reception of the screwed end of a pivot to take into the head of a tripod or other support when the fire arm is to be fired otherwise than from the shoulder.

If thought necessary or desirable the metal sheath 2' may be covered with asbestos or other non-conductor for heat.

The sliding bolt cover b has at its rear end and on its right hand side the hook shaped projection or lug 5 with which. engages, when the said cover 6 is in its fully drawn back position the spring pressed arm m of a lever m, 722 shown detached in plan of underside in Fig. 9. By this arrangement the bolt cover 7) can be fastened or held in the fully drawn back position for as long as may be desired. The cover Z) is released by pulling the trigger a a projection on the inner arm of which bears on the arm m of the lever m, m and operates the said lever, or the bolt cover may be released by direct action of the thumb on the projecting thumb piece m on the arm m of thelever m, m Ihe bolt and bolt cover are not of integral formation as shown by Figs. 9-13 inclusive.

Vhen assembled the projection 1 takes into or engages with the cam groove or channel 2 in the bolt cover I).

The fire arm also has preferably on the right hand side and within convenient reach of the shooters hand the safety lever 0 which can be turned on its axis and made to occupy the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 so as to constitute a stop for the sliding cover 6 and render the sliding motion of the same while the safety lever 0 is in the said dotted or safe position impossible.

The sight p of the fire arm is hinged to detachable body cap 7' shown detached in front elevation in Fig. 10, side elevation in Fig. 11 and plan in Fig. 12.

The body cap has in its front face an annular channel or groove r to enable it to fit over the rear end of the tubular part of the body or shoe a as is best seen in Fig. 5. The body cap has an axial projection r with side lugs r and the body cap 1' is applied to the gun in such a position that the lugs r are presented to channels or grooves which open into the recesses or notches with which they are to be engaged by the partial rotation of the body cap 1' on the end of the body a.

A catch 5 on a spindle s engages with a notch in the tubular rear end of the body a and fixes the body cap 7' in place when by the partial rotation of the same it has been brought into its normal position with re- .spect to the body a, the spindle 8 having on its outer end a spring pressed thumb piece or lever 8 e wish it to be understood that where in the automatic fire arm we have heretofore used a single coiled spring we may employ two or more lighter springs arranged one within another the springs being preferably coiled in opposite directions, that is to say, if the outer spring is right handed the next within is left handed and so on.

The parts of the fire arm which we have not described differ in no essential respects from the prior patented automatic fire arms hereinbefore referred to.

We claim l 1. In an automatic fire arm, the combination of a body, lock mechanism mounted in a portion of the body, gas operated automatic mechanism having springs arranged in tubes under the barrel of the fire arm and cooperating with parts of the lock mechanism, and a tubular metallic sheath enveloping the greater portion of the barrel of the fire arm and spring containing tubes and parts adjacent thereto.

- 2. In an automatic fire arm, the combination of a body, automatic mechanism con trolling the firing and cartridge support and feed and including tubes containing springs cooperating with parts of the said mechanism, a tubular sheath inclosing the greater part of the barrel of the fire arm and the said spring containing tubes and parts adj acent thereto, and having a strap or collar encircling the same, a stay bar connected to said collar and a depending portion of the body and having a series of screw holes therein, and supporting means adapted to {ac attached to the screw holes of the said 3. In an automatic fire arm, the combination of a body having automatic mechanism therein and a bolt provided with a cover, the cover at its rear end and at one side having a hook shaped projection, a lock mechanism having a lever to engage the said hook shaped projection of the cover when it is desired to fasten the bolt cover in its withdrawn position, the lever having a proupper arm of the trigger lever whereby the hook shaped projection on the bolt cover may be released by a direct pressure on the thumb piece or by the pull of the trigger at the will of the gunner.

A. In an automatic fire arm, the combination of a body having a rear tubular end with an annular channel formed within and near the extreme end of the same and oppositely disposed notches opening into said channel, a body closing cap having an axial boss and oppositely disposed lugs thereon, whereby the cap may be engaged with the rear end of the body, the lugs on the axial boss of the cap passing through the notches in the rear end of the body and engaged by a partial rotation of the cap with the annular channel, a spring pressed catch carried by the cap adapted to engage a notch in the body when said cap has reached its proper position thereby retaining the cap in place.

5. In an automatic fire arm, the combination of a body having a rear tubular end with an annular groove formed therein near the extreme end of the same and oppositely disposed notches opening into said groove a body closing cap having an axial boss ant oppositely disposed lugs thereon, whereby the cap can be engaged with the rear end of the body, the lugs onthe axial boss of the cap.

B V, t v txon of the cap wlth sald annular groove,- a, set eur hands 1n presence of two subscrlbmg sprlng pressed catch earned by the cap enwlt'nesses. gaglng wlth a notch 1n the body When the cap has reached its proper position thereby MOUBRAY FARQIIHAR. retaining the cap in place, a sight hinged ARTHUR HENRY HILL. to the body cap and firing and magazine Witnesses: mechanism carried by said body. ARTHUR J. DOWELL,

In testimony whereof We have hereunto WILLIAM J. BOWKER. 

